[Deutsche Welle] Historians doubt that Bayajida existed, but the legend of Bayajida remains powerful. It refers to him as the man whose lineage founded the Hausa nation. The legend is re-enacted yearly in Daura, Nigeria. (AllAfrica)

[Guardian] In his New Year Day broadcast to the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari, among other policy matters, outlined his plan for the development of the economy, the transportation sector, especially the railway network in Nigeria with a view to connecting the entire country. (AllAfrica)

[CPJ] Lomé -Nigerian authorities should immediately release Timothy Elombah, editor of the news website Elombah, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces arrested the journalist at his home in Nnewi, a city in Anambra state, on January 1, 2018, according to his lawyer, Obunike Ohaegbu, and media reports. (AllAfrica)

[Daily Trust] This year, we are spending the holiday season in Niger to travel and see old friends and catch up with events in the country. We spent a lot of time with friends in the NGO - Alternative Citizen Spaces (Alternative Espace Citoyens) led by Moussa Tchangari. (AllAfrica)

[Deutsche Welle] President Emmanuel Macron has visited French counterterrorism troops based in Niger who are tackling extremists in the Sahel. He stressed the need for development programs to tackle the root causes of extremism. (AllAfrica)

[This Day] Abuja -President Muhammadu Buhari did not eventually fly to Niger Republic as scheduled yesterday, where he had been billed to attend the 59th independence anniversary of the country in Tahoua. (AllAfrica)

[VOA] The multinational joint task force fighting the Boko Haram insurgency in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria says it will hold some 200 former terrorists until Cameroon can construct a rehabilitation center where they will be socially integrated before returning to their communities. The ex-terrorists are currently at the barracks of the multinational joint task force in Mora, on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria. (AllAfrica)

[VOA] Cameroon has closed its border with Nigeria in the north, after a series of attacks by Boko Haram militants on Cameroonian ranchers. The closure is meant to protect the ranchers' cattle, but it is hurting the ranchers' business. (AllAfrica)

[ICG] Ten months after its launch, the G5 Sahel joint force (FC-G5S), a joint project under- taken by the five countries of the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) is slowly taking shape. (AllAfrica)

[HRW] Last month, the Senegalese government quietly teamed up with Interpol for a two-day anti-trafficking operation in Dakar. As part of Opération Épervier, a team of Senegalese police officers and social workers -- along with the national anti-trafficking unit and Interpol -- picked up over 50 children from the streets. The majority were talibés, or Quranic students, forced to beg by abusive teachers. (AllAfrica)

[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Doumba -Land projects such as this one have turned large tracts of Niger from brown to green in recent years and made parts of the hot, dry West African nation productive again (AllAfrica)

[VOA] The United States and Niger have reached an agreement permitting armed American military drones for use against jihadist terror groups in the African nation, a U.S. official told VOA. (AllAfrica)

[VOA] Additional remains of U.S. Army Sergeant La David Johnson were found in Niger on November 12, an unnamed U.S. official said Tuesday. Johnson and three other U.S. soldiers were killed on October 4 when their convoy was ambushed as it left the village of Tongo Tongo. (AllAfrica)

[Deutsche Welle] We need to create jobs, help facilitate trade and address the challenges of the Africa of the future, says Donald Yamamoto, who is in charge of African affairs at the US State Department. (AllAfrica)

[SNA] Khartoum -Assistant of the President of the Republic and Deputy Chairman of the National Congress for the Party's Affairs, Engineer Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, received in his office at the Republican Palace Tuesday the Ambassador of Nigeria to Sudan and discussed means of strengthening the cooperation between the ruling parties in the two countries. (AllAfrica)

[SNA] Khartoum -The assistant of the president of the republic, the Deputy Chairman of the National Congress Party for the Party's Affairs, engineer, Ibrahime Mahmoud, discussed with the Nigerian ambassador to Khartoum ways to enhance cooperation between the ruling parties in the two countries, for the development of common interests. (AllAfrica)

[The Conversation Africa] On October 4 an American Special Forces team was ambushed by a contingent of Islamic State affiliated fighters in Niger. Four American soldiers were killed and two wounded. The team of 12 soldiers was returning from a meeting with community leaders when it ran into a group of up to 50 terrorists. (AllAfrica)

[Vanguard] Katsina -FIVE herdsmen from Niger Republic have been arrested by officers of Katsina State Police Command for grazing their cattle on farmlands and destroying crops at Daddara village of Jibia Local Government Area. (AllAfrica)

[The Conversation Africa] Numerous reports have appeared recently about beefing up US military presence in Niger, and potentially allowing American forces to more actively target suspected jihadist leaders in the region. This follows the deaths of US and Nigerien soldiers in Niger on October 4. (AllAfrica)

[The Conversation Africa] Numerous reports have appeared recently about beefing up US military presence in Niger, and potentially allowing American forces to more actively target suspected jihadist leaders in the region. This follows the deaths of US and Nigerien soldiers in Niger on October 4. (AllAfrica)